CITY JOBS TO REACH PRE-CREDIT CRUNCH LEVELS

64% OF CITY PROFESSIONALS FEEL THE CONSERVATIVES WILL BE BEST FOR THE JOBS MARKET

The number of banking and financial services jobs in the City has increased nearly 150% since the bottom of the market in Q1 2009

Chinese growth, positive macro figures from the USA, and return of M&A, fuel the FTSE and drive City recruitment

International recruiter rebrands UK division as Asian growth leads the way for the City

Banking and financial services job vacancies in the City will reach 2007 levels by August 2010, driven by growth in the equities market over the past twelve months.

The forecast comes out of research from Ambition, the global recruitment firm, who found that since the bottom of the job market in quarter one of 2009, vacancies in the banking and financial services sector have increased by an average of 19.8% every quarter. Applying this growth to quarters two and three of 2010 we can expect a return to pre-credit crunch levels in late summer 2010.

Between April 2009 and April 2010 the FTSE rose over 1800 points. This has lead many City businesses to turn away from the relative safe haven of bonds and into areas such as equities where there are better money-making opportunities. As a result, there has been an increase in demand for candidates in important roles for these areas such as project management, performance analysis, back office, risk and compliance, finance departments and marketing teams.

London lags Hong Kong and Singapore
London is three months behind Hong Kong and Singapore in its job market recovery. Ambition in Hong Kong has found that during the downturn, the jobs market in Hong Kong bottomed out in quarter four 2008 three months before London. Since then, powered by growth in the Chinese economy, the Hong Kong market has enjoyed an 89% rise in the number of jobs available in the Banking and Financial Markets sector.

Tim Gilbert, managing director of Ambition UK, previously Witan Jardine, says: The second half of 2009 and start of 2010 has seen rapid growth in the City. Banks have repaired their balance sheets through Government aid or rights issues, commodity prices are rising, and recovery stocks being sold heavily. As a result the FTSE has been going from strength to strength and many banks, brokers and trading houses have been piling into equities making money while the going is good. This has lead to a significant increase in demand for staff to support these areas of growth.

Quarter three 2009 was the peak time for unemployed City staff to register for work. But there has been a decline since then suggesting that the City could be returning to a candidate short market, a situation not seen since before the economic downturn. The number of candidates registering for work in the City has fallen by 21% over the last two quarters.
Ambition UK has recently undergone a rebrand having cast off its previous name, Witan Jardine. This follows Witan Jardines acquisition by Ambition Group in Australia.

Tim Gilbert, continues: Now the City jobs market is beginning to return to the levels we enjoyed in 2007 we saw this as the prime opportunity to complete our rebrand. Witan Jardine is one of the oldest and most respected recruitment firms in London. Its acquisition by Ambition Group has transformed it from a London firm to one with a global reach which we know is something our candidates and clients see as a benefit.

Conservatives best prospect for City jobs market
In addition to the research, Ambition carried out a survey of 700 City professionals and found that 64% of workers feel a Conservative victory at the general election will be the best outcome for the City jobs market. 22% believe a Labour win will be better for the market. Worryingly for Nick Clegg and despite having economic heavy weight Vince Cable as Shadow Chancellor the City has only marginally more faith in the Liberal Democrats than they do in a hung parliament. The Lib Dems picked up 7% of the votes compared to the 4% who believe a hung parliament will be best for the market. 3% of City workers are unsure what would be best for the market.